Buying a bike (need an opinion)

[kevin625]

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Hey everyone, I've never owned a bike before but I'd like to know what your opinion would be.

I am 21 years old and I will just have my M2 for over a year in the upcoming week. I know someone who is selling their motorcycle, it's a 2010 Kawasaki Ninja with roughly 10,000 KM on it. The bike has been dropped once, the fairings were replaced and nothing else was wrong with it. As for the maintenance, I'm not sure about that but I plan on asking the seller about it.

The seller is planning on giving it to me for $3000, would this be a fair price? The only thing stopping me is that it's carbed. I was initially thinking about buying the CBR 250 because of the fuel-injected system.

It would be my first bike and I was just wondering if going carbed would be a good way to go. I know the basic things for maintaining a car, but I have never dealt with a carburetor before (I heard it was easy to maintain vs. fuel injected)

Edit: Unfortunately, the bike has been sold. I can always wait for a better one to come around and save some more money in the meantime! Thanks everyone for the assistance!

 

[Paul1000RR]

get a fuel injected bike in my opinion. many advantages to it and don't bother with something that was dropped. plenty of bikes around that weren't dumped.

 

[kevin625]

Does it matter how bad the drop was? From what I recall, the accident occurred in gravel, and the rider wasn't going that fast.

 

[ZX600]

get a fuel injected bike in my opinion. many advantages to it and don't bother with something that was dropped. plenty of bikes around that weren't dumped.

lol yea for an extra 1300 dollars.

For that price with the fairings replaced, its a really good price. It will be sold fast while the OP thinks about it

 

[Paul1000RR]

lol yea for an extra 1300 dollars.

For that price with the fairings replaced, its a really good price. It will be sold fast while the OP thinks about it

ya what a deal! for that price he should take 3!

1 thing i learned with all the vehicles i have owned, and that is you get what you pay for. go ahead, save a couple hundred on a bike that was dropped. ofcourse everyone is gonna downplay how hard they dropped it.
next thing you know you take the fairing off and the frame is cracked. i recall a recent thread on here where this has happened to a buyer.

but hey, maybe you'll get lucky and save some cash. who knows. but you're taking a chance

 

[caboose56]

ya what a deal! for that price he should take 3!

1 thing i learned with all the vehicles i have owned, and that is you get what you pay for. go ahead, save a couple hundred on a bike that was dropped. ofcourse everyone is gonna downplay how hard they dropped it.
next thing you know you take the fairing off and the frame is cracked. i recall a recent thread on here where this has happened to a buyer.

but hey, maybe you'll get lucky and save some cash. who knows. but you're taking a chance

You know, cuz motorcycles are delicate flowers.

If people like you keep running away from bikes that have minor cosmetic damage I can keep picking them up cheap... so I guess I don't mind.

To the OP, it would be wise to take someone with you that knows bikes. If this fall down was bad enough to cause significant damage it should be obvious to someone that knows what to look for.

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[ViperZ]

Caboose pretty much summarized everything pretty well. If it's your first bike, I'd bring a mechanic with me to check out the bike, not even because of the fall, but so you can understand what to look for next time.

First bike is a first bike, there a good chance that you'll also drop it, so scratches are no biggie, especially that it has new fairings anyway. And yeah, 3000 for that bike, if it is fully working, is a good price.

 

[ZX600]

ya what a deal! for that price he should take 3!

1 thing i learned with all the vehicles i have owned, and that is you get what you pay for. go ahead, save a couple hundred on a bike that was dropped. ofcourse everyone is gonna downplay how hard they dropped it.
next thing you know you take the fairing off and the frame is cracked. i recall a recent thread on here where this has happened to a buyer.

but hey, maybe you'll get lucky and save some cash. who knows. but you're taking a chance

After talking to Kevin, I realized I actually know the bike.

Bike was taken to Z1 for a full inspection and there was just cosmetic damage.

Paul, it happens that he is not just saving a few hundred dollars, have you even seen the prices of what these bikes are going for out there? I think you are one of those guys that talk without really knowing what they are talking about. Just do a quick search and you will see, dropped 250's with cracked fairings are going for over 4k

But hey, you have had "many vehicles" so you must know even if very experienced riders here are saying other wise.

 

[Paul1000RR]

You know, cuz motorcycles are delicate flowers.

If people like you keep running away from bikes that have minor cosmetic damage I can keep picking them up cheap... so I guess I don't mind.

To the OP, it would be wise to take someone with you that knows bikes. If this fall down was bad enough to cause significant damage it should be obvious to someone that knows what to look for.

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Go ahead pick em up. I'd rather buy something that hasn't been cartwheeled across 4 lanes of the highway lol
If you wanna save a couple hundred and then find out there's other problems thats your choice. Since this is a new rider id figure id save him the problems since he probably won't know what he's looking at.

After talking to Kevin, I realized I actually know the bike.

Bike was taken to Z1 for a full inspection and there was just cosmetic damage.

Paul, it happens that he is not just saving a few hundred dollars, have you even seen the prices of what these bikes are going for out there? I think you are one of those guys that talk without really knowing what they are talking about. Just do a quick search and you will see, dropped 250's with cracked fairings are going for over 4k

But hey, you have had "many vehicles" so you must know even if very experienced riders here are saying other wise.

Sounds to me like you have a hidden agenda and are probably trying to help the sale of the bike "you know". Once again if you read my response you'd notice that i said:
"get a fuel injected bike in my opinion. many advantages to it and don't bother with something that was dropped. plenty of bikes around that weren't dumped."

If you don't agree with it theres no need to insult me. I've owned plenty of cars and bikes in my time and am trying to save the guy unnecessary problems. Once again there's a possibility nothing will be wrong, by why risk it?

And who are these "very experienced" riders? You cause you have a join date of a couple years back? hahahha only on gta is your knowledge based on a join date lolo

 

[ZX600]

Go ahead pick em up. I'd rather buy something that hasn't been cartwheeled across 4 lanes of the highway lol
If you wanna save a couple hundred and then find out there's other problems thats your choice. Since this is a new rider id figure id save him the problems since he probably won't know what he's looking at.



Sounds to me like you have a hidden agenda and are probably trying to help the sale of the bike "you know". Once again if you read my response you'd notice that i said:
"get a fuel injected bike in my opinion. many advantages to it and don't bother with something that was dropped. plenty of bikes around that weren't dumped."

If you don't agree with it theres no need to insult me. I've owned plenty of cars and bikes in my time and am trying to save the guy unnecessary problems. Once again there's a possibility nothing will be wrong, by why risk it?

And who are these "very experienced" riders? You cause you have a join date of a couple years back? hahahha only on gta is your knowledge based on a join date lolo

No hidden agenda, I stand no gain from this and I have told the OP over Pm that i know the bike.

30 years of riding experience but I wasn't referring to me.

And I didn't insult you, giving you my opinion since you seem to throw comments out there like "ya what a deal! for that price he should take 3" without really knowing the prices (it is obvious)

All I am saying is:
If the OP is looking for a perfect bike, then do not buy it but be prepared to pay the value, and its not going to be a few hundred over 3000, its going to be close to 5k
If the OP is looking for a bike in perfect running condition for a very fair price, then 3k for a 2010 with 13000km is a safe bet.

I do agree that the OP should bring with him someone that knows bikes or a mechanic, anyone should when buying any vehicle

Sorry if I hurt your feelings

 

[rbjeepthing]

Ok I'll bite since I went through this exact same thing this year. My wife bought a 2011 Ninja 250 brand new. She is not the brightest when it comes to grasping the concept of mechanical things and she has absolutely no issue with the carbs as neither do I. If you do some research the CBR250's have way more reported problems related to fueling then the Ninja's do. As for the price with the new 2013 Ninja's coming fuel injected the previous gen will be blown out the door. We actually paid less for a brand new non-current 2011 then what some were asking for one used during the spring on Kijiji.

 

[Paul1000RR]

No hidden agenda, I stand no gain from this and I have told the OP over Pm that i know the bike.

30 years of riding experience but I wasn't referring to me.

And I didn't insult you, giving you my opinion since you seem to throw comments out there like "ya what a deal! for that price he should take 3" without really knowing the prices (it is obvious)

All I am saying is:
If the OP is looking for a perfect bike, then do not buy it but be prepared to pay the value, and its not going to be a few hundred over 3000, its going to be close to 5k
If the OP is looking for a bike in perfect running condition for a very fair price, then 3k for a 2010 with 13000km is a safe bet.

I do agree that the OP should bring with him someone that knows bikes or a mechanic, anyone should when buying any vehicle

Sorry if I hurt your feelings

we could agree there. where we disagree is with our opinions on which one to go for. my opinion is not to penny pinch and get something that wasn't cartwheeled the first time and save the potential future headaches.
you opinion is save some cash.


with that said my feelings aren't hurt. its just funny how you went on to say i have no clue what im talking about because my OPINION on what to do was different than yours.

ps ive got a garage sale next week if you wanna buy some quality second hand junk hahaha

 

[fusion]

3k is a good price for the buyer AND the seller at this time of year. Fuel injection bah, just warm it up a bit. Sounds like its had a full work up, nothing to fear..buy it and get into riding.

I bought a bike I knew was dropped, lucky I didn't get burned. 15,000km on the bike and not a single issue.

 

[bboySushi]

i've usually seen those 250s go for 3400-3800, maybe even 4200 start of season. I agree with the sentiment that bikes aren't delicate flowers; a drop could definitely mess a few things up but usually not to any critical extent. My buddy's crashed on the highway (slid out trying to be too aggressive on the on-ramp) and could still ride it back home with no problem.

Maybe later down the line it could create a few issues, but I would assume they are quite manageable if there is no obvious damage. By that time the OP has a good chance or swapping bikes anyway before anything major rears its ugly head.

If I were in the market for a 250 I'd think that is quite a good deal.

 

[TorontoBoy]

..It would be my first bike and I was just wondering if going carbed would be a good way to go. I know the basic things for maintaining a car, but I have never dealt with a carburetor before (I heard it was easy to maintain vs. fuel injected)

While I cannot comment on the price of a used 250, you need not worry unduly about carbed bikes. There are lots of them out there and they run just fine. They have a very long history in motorcycles and can be very reliable. Note that if you are like most riders you will not be riding below 0C, so starting in the cold should be no problem. Look more into the engine, handling, reliability and reviews. A 2010 Kawi Ninja 250 is a very well known and newby friendly bike. Before the bike will get old you will probably want to trade it in, so don't worry about the carb. This is your first bike, not your last bike.

 

[caboose56]

Go ahead pick em up. I'd rather buy something that hasn't been cartwheeled across 4 lanes of the highway lol
If you wanna save a couple hundred and then find out there's other problems thats your choice. Since this is a new rider id figure id save him the problems since he probably won't know what he's looking at.

Well, I did suggest that he take a more knowledgeable person with him.

I also specified 'cosmetic damage'. There's a big difference between slipping on some sand in a parking lot and and falling over at ~20kph and a 4-lane-cartwheel. I don't really understand your reductio ad obsurdium... unless you're just trying to make me look stupid?

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[Paul1000RR]

Well, I did suggest that he take a more knowledgeable person with him.

I also specified 'cosmetic damage'. There's a big difference between slipping on some sand in a parking lot and and falling over at ~20kph and a 4-lane-cartwheel. I don't really understand your reductio ad obsurdium... unless you're just trying to make me look stupid?

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Because sellers are know for their honesty eh? I've found that about 9 out of 10 sellers are full of **** !

Im not making stuff up, just going from my past experiences...

 

[caboose56]

Because sellers are know for their honesty eh? I've found that about 9 out of 10 sellers are full of **** !

Im not making stuff up, just going from my past experiences...

Ok? I'm still not sure where you're going with this.

If a seller says the bike got knocked over in a parking lot and all you see is a bent brake lever, broken mirror and stuffed up fairings.. move forward. If it looks like it fell off a cliff then got run over by a dump truck, I'd pass.

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[alvin545]

OP, I bought a Ninja 250 at the beginning of the season after also considering a CBR250 because of the FI. I was worried about the carbs being finicky.

After riding it this season, I can tell you that you need not worry; the bike always started very easily even in colder weather!

It's too bad you're only looking now as I just sold my 2008 (never dropped, less than 7000km) for 3100!

 

[djbordie]

its 2012...carb'd ninja 250s arent a problem...its not like your buying a 1970s triumph lol

for the price, give er...if its super damaged though it should be under 3000$

you can find alot of ninja 250s for 3000-3300 with mods and slight damage..

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